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01.11.09

Baptism of the Lord

WITNESSING THE POWER OF GOD

PSALM 29; MARK 1:4-11

• The Energy of Life
• Natural Sources of Power
• There is power all around us—energy that is a natural part of life on planet Earth
• It manifests itself in many forms—heat, light, sound, magnetism, gravity, movement, and all life functions
• It’s everywhere in great abundance
• Since the beginning of time, nature has been producing and reproducing energy in quantities so astronomical that we could never begin to use it all, not even with the most advanced technology
• Ironically, we have chosen to draw our power from only one source—fossil fuels
• Only a small fraction of one percent of the sun’s energy that the earth absorbs is converted into plant tissue, and it’s that tiny fraction that has produced all fossil fuels
• This is a nonrenewable source of power
• When they are used up, they are gone
• It would take thousands of years for the earth to replenish the fossil fuels we have already used
• Yet, there are other sources of energy available to us, but we have barely begun to tap into their power
• There is the power of the sun, the power of wind, and the power of water
• The sun generates a massive amount of energy each day, which we can capture and use as a replacement for fossil fuels
• Wind is a dynamic force that can be captured by giant windmills and used to generate electricity
• About three-fourths of the earth’s surface is water
• The natural cycle of water evaporation and precipitation created by the sun is a force needed to sustain life on earth
• Many forms of energy can be realized from this movement of water in its natural cycle
• The good thing about these forms of power is that they are all renewable
• They will always be available in an overabundant supply as long as the earth continues to exist
• The Ultimate Source of Power
• Behind all these sources of energy there is a Greater Power still that set these resources in place and gave to them their power
• That is the power of God
• God’s power is all around us, yet often we don’t take the time to notice
• Every time we watch the sun rise we witness the power of God to usher in a new day
• Every time we experience the birth of a child we witness the power of God to create new life
• Every time we experience death we witness the power of God to transform old life into new
• It’s the power of God that fills our lungs with breath and touches our cheek with a cool breeze
• It’s the power of God that gives us life and renews that life with each new day
• It’s the power of God that gives us strength for living and restores that strength when we are ill
• It’s the power of God that causes plants to grow and waves to crash against the shore
• There is nothing in this world that is absent of the power of God
• The Power of God At Work in the World
• Creation
• The 29th Psalm is a creation Psalm
• In it, David celebrates the power of God that is evident throughout the earth
• David calls us to acknowledge the glory and strength of God and to “worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” as we witness the power of God in creation
• God’s power is witnessed in the thunder, the wind and the rain, which are sometimes destructive forces that shake the earth, splinter the trees and strip the forests bare
• But even in these times of great destruction, we are to marvel at the power of God
• As David wrote this psalm, he must have had in mind the words of Genesis 1, which details for us the events of creation
• Ever since the time of Darwin, there has been significant debate over whether the creation story is true of the theory of evolution is true
• That is a futile debate
• The primary issue in this debate is First Cause—what caused creation to occur or what caused the process of evolution to begin?
• Both creationists and evolutionists recognize a “power” that caused this world to come into being
• The focus of the creation story isn’t on what was created when—the focus of the creation story is on God
• “In the beginning God…” are the first four words of the Bible, and the emphasis of the story of creation is on the power of God to create
• The Bible affirms that it is God who existed before creation; it is God who spoke, causing all that exists to come into being; it is God who brought order out of the watery chaos; it is God who gives us life and provides us with the strength to live
• The whole point of the creation story is that God’s power is behind all things
• Recreation
• Even in the early verses of the Gospel of Mark there is evidence of the power of God
• Mark was the first Gospel to be written, and Mark writes it to demonstrate the power of God at work in the person of Jesus Christ
• Mark dispenses with the stories of Christ’s birth and early years and begins his Gospel with the emergence of John the Baptist
• He was not the well-refined religious leader of those days, dressed in fine robes and living in the lap of luxury
• His home was the desert, his dress was a garment of camel’s hair, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey
• There had not been such a person in Israel since the days of Elijah, yet this is the one God had chosen to herald the coming of the Messiah
• God’s power is evident in this strange-looking character, for it was the power of God that enabled him to take up the mantle of an Old Testament prophet and preach his message of repentance
• It was God’s power that moved people from all over the Judean countryside to flock to John and listen to his message, to confess their sin and be baptized
• Prior to the coming of John, no Jew had ever been baptized
• The Jews believed they didn’t need baptism because they were the chosen people of God
• Baptism was reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism as a sign that they left their old heathen life behind
• The fact that so many from across Judea came to listen to John, confess their sin and receive baptism is a testimony to the power of God to change people’s lives
• Jesus also came to John in the wilderness to be baptized
• Since John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, Jesus didn’t need to be baptized since he was free from sin
• Yet, even in Jesus’ baptism we see the power of God at work
• Jesus wasn’t baptized for sins he committed; he was baptized for the sin of the world
• In his baptism, we witness the power of God to transfer the sin of all people—past, present, and future—off or us and onto Jesus
• Because Jesus took our sin upon himself in baptism, we are made free of the penalty of sin through faith in his death and resurrection
• The most obvious sign of the power of God at work in the baptism of Jesus is the descent of the dove upon him and the voice of God speaking God’s approval
• This baptism was the anointing of Jesus for the work of God he was to perform
• Mark tells us that the dove was the sign of the Holy Spirit of God
• It is the sign that all of God’s power is poured out upon him, and it’s that power—the power of the Holy Spirit—that empowered Jesus to live a life of faithfulness and fulfill the mission for which God sent him into the world
• Jesus’ baptism foreshadows his ultimate purpose—to die for the sins of the world and be raised to new life as the Savior and Lord of all
• The Power of God in Our Baptism
• God’s power is present and at work in our baptism as well
• It is God’s power that enables us to become children of God with equal status in God’s family as Jesus himself
• In baptism, we are marked as a child of God and given a new name—that name is Christian
• It is the power of God at work in our baptism that enables us to die with Christ to sin and to rise with Christ to new life
• It is the power of God at work through our baptism that fills us with the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit that was imparted to Jesus—giving us the power of God to live life with bold faith, to face and overcome any difficulty, to love as Jesus loves and live as Jesus lived
• That power, like wind and sun, is a renewable source of energy for us
• It’s a source of power for living that is always available and will never be depleted
• Those who claim that they can’t see the power of God at work in the world live their life with their eyes closed to what is going on around them
• God’s power can be witnessed in the daily cycle of life
• God’s power can be witnessed in the process of birth and death
• God’s power can be witnessed in the elements of nature
• God’s power can be witnessed in the lives of people who are changed by the truth of God’s Word and the love God has demonstrated through God’s Son Jesus Christ
• Moment by moment, we are witnessing the power of God
• God makes God’s presence known so that we might know that we are not alone
• God makes God’s presence known so that we might know that we are loved and cared for
• God makes God’s presence known so that we might trust God and turn to God in faith
• God’s power is behind all things
• All of life is lived in God’s presence